1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to control switching systems, and more particularly to an electro-optical switching system which provides visual selection and remote actuation of a plurality of switchable electronic apparatus within a field of view of a human operator.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The development of larger and faster aircraft, both commercial and military, has resulted in an increase in the number of sophisticated and complex airborne avionics systems added to the aircraft which have substantially increased the amount of cockpit instrumentation and the work load of the pilot and cockpit crew. Furthermore, these new avionic systems, which include navigational aids, engine performance monitoring systems, and automatic flight control systems, require some type of constant actuation during flight. The proliferation of such avionic equipment is most severe in the development of modern military aircraft, where in addition to such systems as navigation and engine control, the added avionics further include sophisticated radar systems and an array of sophisticated weapon delivery systems. The military pilot is constantly actuating such equipment to provide the required information readouts, or work function. For both commercial and military pilots, the manual cockpit switching of the plurality of cockpit mounted instruments, and equipment, is a procedural distraction that the pilot, and/or air crews in general, are trained to tolerate. However, the busy times of a pilot, both military and commercial, involve critical flight regimens where the activities required in manually switching the various cockpit instrumentation may cause a measurable reduction in operational effectiveness and, subsequently in flight safety margins. Although the problem may be more severe in a military aircraft involving a single pilot, where critical airborne operation includes air-to-air refueling, low level flight, aircraft carrier landing and takeoff, ordinance delivery patterns and air combat maneuvering, the commercial pilot is similarly burdened with the work load and concentration involved in landing and taking off from congested commercial airports.
At the present time, such pilot actuation of the cockpit mounted instruments and equipment requires manual switching of the selected equipment. This results in both pilot distraction in the time required to perform such manual switching, and in addition requires the freeing up of a hand which would otherwise remain on the throttle or stick. Such pilot motion in bending, and/or leaning forward to provide these switching functions could adversely affect the flight attitude of the aircraft causing momentary, or transient discontinuities in flight. As may be appreciated, these transient disturbances in aircraft control could result in disaster where such transients occur in a critical, high speed flight maneuver. At the present time, there are no suitable alternatives to this manual switching procedure, i.e. no systems which permit "hands off" actuation of equipment other than that having throttle, or stick mounted switches.